GREENWOOD, S.C. – The 24^th-ranked UNC Pembroke men's basketball team scored 19 of the game's first 23 points and limited Lander to just 34.5 percent field goal shooting as the Braves moved into the championship game of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament for the second time in six years with a dominant 77-53 victory over the Bearcats on Saturday in Horne Arena.
 
The triumph marked the ninth-straight win for the Black & Gold (23-7) who handed ninth-year head coach Ben Miller his 150^th career victory with the result as well. It was the fourth-straight series loss for the Bearcats (12-18) who have dropped five of the last six matchups with the Braves in Greenwood as well.
 
The Braves will face PBC West regular season co-champion Columbus State (20-8) in Sunday's championship game. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Horne Arena. The Cougars handed UNCP a 91-88 setback at home in early January. It is the first championship game appearance for the Black & Gold since 2010-11.
 
All-conference standout Brandon Watts scored a game-best 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting to pace the Braves who fueled the first-half scoring outburst with a 5-of-9 success rate from the perimeter. Alex Bradley fueled a 16-point outing with a 5-for-6 clip from 3-point territory, while freshman Akia Pruitt narrowly missed his eighth double-double of the season with nine points and 11 rebounds.
 
J.R. Washington tallied a dozen points to pace the Bearcats who also got 10 points off the bench from Clenzo Ross. Whiteville native Rahu Purdie, who averaged a team-best 16.0 points per game in two previous meetings with the Braves this season, was held to just five on Saturday.
 
Lander connected on two-straight baskets to open the second half and cut their deficit back to 14 points, 43-29, but the Braves maintained a cushion they had built for themselves in the first half for much of the remainder of action. Pruitt's layup with 6:47 remaining made it a 71-43 contest, and the Braves hit cruise control the rest of the way out.
 
The Braves led 19-4 after just 6-1/2 minutes of action in the opening half, but padded that advantage to as many as 25 points on a fastbreak dunk from Pruitt with 2:03 left before the break.